Lower Elwha

The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe (or Nəxʷsƛ̓áy̓əm ('strong people') in Klallam ) is a federally recognized Native American nation in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. The tribe is part of the larger Klallam culture, part of the Coast Salish peoples. The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe (or Nəxʷsƛ̓áy̓əm ('strong people') in Klallam ) is a federally recognized Native American nation in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. The tribe is part of the larger Klallam culture, part of the Coast Salish peoples. The traditional territory of the Klallam is the north and northeast portion of the Olympic Peninsula, in the U.S. state of Washington. They traditionally had several villages in this area. Since the 1930s part of the tribe has controlled a reservation located four miles (6.4 km) west of Port Angeles at the mouth of the Elwha River. In August 2003 the site of an ancient Klallam village, Tse-whit-zen, was discovered during a construction project on former tribal land in the city. The significance of the nearly intact village site, hundreds of human remains, and thousands of artifacts led to the state abandoning the construction project at that site. Based on radiocarbon dating, the village site appears to have been occupied for nearly 2700 years. The Lower Elwha Klallam lived there until the 1930s, when the federal government persuaded them to move outside the city to a reservation four miles (6.4 km) west. The state has since returned 10 acres (4.0 ha) of land to the Tribe and leased it another six acres (2.4 ha). In 2012 and 2014, two dams built in the early 20th century were removed from the Elwha River as part of a major restoration project long advocated by the Tribe. This will enable the building up of the beaches and delta at the mouth of the river, as well as restore salmon runs and improve the ecology of the river and watershed. As lands were revealed, in August 2012 the tribe rediscovered their long-submerged sacred creation site near the river. In addition, an archeological site has been found along the river with artifacts revealing 8,000 years of human habitation; it is the oldest site in the Olympic National Park. As of 2007 there are 776 enrolled members of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe. Of these, 112 live on the Lower Elwha Reservation. This is managed by the tribe and located at the mouth of the Elwha River, 48°8′19″N 123°33′11″W / 48.13861°N 123.55306°W / 48.13861; -123.55306, about 4 miles (6.4 km) west of Port Angeles. The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe is one of the four Klallam peoples, who are based in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Their historic territory was in the northeast of the Olympic Peninsula, approximately from the Hoko River to the Strait of Juan de Fuca. They speak related Salish languages. The Tribe traditionally spoke the Klallam language, one related to other Coast Salish languages. In projects already underway, a Klallam dictionary was published in 2012, with major contributions by tribal elders such as Adeline Smith. Language classes are reviving use of Klallam. In historic and ancient times, the Lower Elwha Klallam occupied several villages along the Elwha River, including on the bay sheltered by Ediz Hook, the area of present-day Port Angeles. They claimed a rock along the river as their creation site, calling it a word that in Klallam means coiled basket, for its shape. This was known as the place where the Creator 'bathed and blessed the Klallam people and other tribes,' according to Jamie Valadez, a Klallam language instructor. It was known as a place for vision quests. This site was submerged under a lake created by construction of the Elwha Dam in 1913. Tribal members recounted it to anthropologists and other researchers in the early 20th century. In the late 18th and 19th centuries, the Tribe suffered high fatalities from infectious diseases carried from European traders, as they had no immunity to these new diseases, such as smallpox and measles. Their numbers were markedly reduced by the late 19th century. The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe was recognized by the United States in the 1855 Point No Point Treaty. In the 20th century, the federal government bought land outside Port Angeles and persuaded the tribe to relocate there in 1935–36 from their property in the city, to allow for industrial development along the waterfront. Lumber and paper mills were built over tribal land. In 1968 the land at the mouth of the Elwha River was designated as the Lower Elwha Reservation. Today tribal lands include about one thousand acres (4 km2) of land on and near the Elwha River.